


Without them what would little girls do?

by SteelBlaidd



Series: Scenes from a Miraculous Life [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Determined Marinette, F/M, post new york special
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27507445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteelBlaidd/pseuds/SteelBlaidd
Summary: Sabine Cheng loves her little girl and wants her to be happy.Marinette is young and in love, with all the us and downs that come with figuring out what that means.Sabine's musings on her daughters romantic career as Marinette's first year of yearning draws to a close.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Scenes from a Miraculous Life [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728766
Comments: 18
Kudos: 47
Collections: Miraculous Fanworks Anniversary 2020





	Without them what would little girls do?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Khanofallorcs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khanofallorcs/gifts).



> Written in celebration of the First Anniversary of the [Miraculous Fanworks Discord](https://discord.gg/XR6UHT) without which I would not be the author I am today, nor the one I hope to be tomorrow.
> 
> Written to a prompt proposed anonymously and selected with out knowledge by the writer of the recipient.

It was just after 10 in the morning and Sabine Cheng was just about to brew a cup of fresh tea when the door slammed open and her daughter Marinette staggered in from her trip to New York.

Looking thoroughly jet lagged and exhausted, but with a fierce glint in her eye. She placed a hand on her hip, thrust the other into the air, finger pointed to pierce the sky, then slowly lowered it to point at her mother as she declared, “Today I am a new Me. I am in _Love_ and in the name of Love I will be triumphant!” After this somewhat daunting pronouncement, she grabbed a hold of her suitcase and heaved it and herself up the stairs to her room. 

Deciding that perhaps a cup of herb tea for the emotional whirlwind that had just blown through might not be amiss, Sabine set the water to boil and prepared the second cup with a soothing chamomile blend. While she waited for the whistle of the tea kettle, she plated an assortment of croissants, both plain and as sandwiches, macarons, and a fruit tartlet, and thought back over the last year as her little girl had begun to open her heart to the first stirrings of romance.

She had watched Marinette go off to the first day of _la troisième_ year of _collège_ with trepidation. The previous years had been so hard, what with Chloé always picking on her and throwing her father's weight around to avoid getting in trouble. 

Sabine was relieved when Marinette danced back into the apartment at lunch, gushing about her new friend Alya, before she hustled up to her room. It was so wonderful for Sabine to see her little girl making a friend.

The next day Marinette came home half-soaked in the rain under a borrowed umbrella and blushing every five seconds. For the rest of the evening, bouts of giggling were interspersed with Marinette staring absently into the distance. 

It took Sabine and Tom almost to the end of dinner and several increasingly specific questions to get Marinette to articulate that she had met a boy, _the_ boy. The one to make her heart go pitter patter, the one to one against whom all others would be measured from now till the end of time, the one that, in the days and months that followed, left her tripping over her tongue and her feet and absolutely clear flat, level ground. 

Tom had been overjoyed, and would have been even had the young man in question _not_ been the very-well-brought-up Adrien Agreste. _Such a well mannered boy_ , Sabine had thought then. The children had so much in common, what with Marinette’s passion for fashion and his for games.

Tom was almost as excited as Marinette was the day Adrien came over to practice for the video game tournament. Sabine regretted that Tom escaped from the bakery a couple of times to make a nuisance of himself as they tried to practice. You would think he would remember that a new relationship is like a soufflé and should not be poked at while it sets. It was a shame that Adrien had not been able to visit much since then, he obviously admired Marinette greatly. If her gushy sighs were interpreted correctly, _Everyday Ladybug_ was apparently the title he had bestowed on her at the Hero's Day picnic she had swooned in from, floating a couple inches above the floor. 

It was good to see Marinette growing in confidence. Reaching out and making friends with all of the other young women in her class. Alya was certainly a good influence, and she and Nino were so cute together. So much like Tom and Sabine when they were younger. It was remarkable that her daughter's friends had found each other so young. Most people took a few tries to find someone that they matched well with and liked enough to choose to build a life together. 

Marinette seemed to be having a much more difficult time of it. 

Her fascination with Adrien seemed almost more of a hindrance than a help. Sabine could only shake her head at just how much of her daughter's craft budget disappeared into what she had started calling Marinette’s “hope” chest. The volume of her creation only seemed to be superseded by her complete inability to give them to their intended recipient. The pint of ice cream Marinette had devoured after discovering Adrien thought the scarf she had knitted so carefully was a gift from his father and _not_ her was something Sabine was certain _she_ was NOT supposed to know about.

Sabine continued her wander down memory lane as she lifted the whistling kettle from the heat, wet the tea and reordered the kitchen.

It was almost a relief when Marinette developed a crush on Chat Noir, Hero of Paris, even if only briefly. At least Marinette had been able to speak coherently around him. Tom was over the moon that his little girl had seemingly snagged such a prominent young man as her first lover. He had really pulled out all the stops for that Sunday brunch. Though Sabine was starting to think he was as excited about the possibility of having an heir to the bakery and doing a croque-en-bouche to outdo the one Roland had made for their wedding as he was with Marinette finding a lifelong companion. 

It was no wonder that Tom had gotten himself akumatized when Chat Noir, as gently as he could really, politely declined their daughters’ affections. Though Sabine considered, based on the conversation at the ill-fated meal that Marinette had already had second thoughts when presented with the actual possibility of a relationship with someone who threw themselves into danger so frequently, rather than just the dream of one. 

Sabine was of the opinion that it should not have been necessary for Marinette to overact her reaction to get her father to back down on his own attachment to the idea. But father and daughter both seemed to believe anything worth doing was worth overdoing. 

Her trip with Adrien, Alya, Nino, _and Manon_ to the Grévin Wax Museum was followed by another late-night pint of ice cream. Which was followed by the tearful admission, as Sabine collected the empty carton and spoon, that Adrien was in love with someone else. A sympathetic shoulder seemed to finally soothe the bruised, but still unbroken, heart that triple chocolate fudge had failed to mend. 

By the Bourgeois' anniversary celebration, Marinette seemed to have resigned herself to Adrien’s relationship and even made a friend of the young lady.

Kagami seemed so in need of friends, too, and it had been a treat to watch her open up that day she and the girls from Marinette's class had taken over the kitchen in their flat to make traditional Japanese Valentines’ chocolates, even if the holiday itself was already past. 

As Alya had said, chocolate is _never_ out of season _._

Sabine was so proud of her daughter for reaching out to her rival, disregarding her disappointment that she was not the one that had captured Adrien’s heart. Marinette and Kagami’s Sunday morning dates to get orange juice at the café down the block were obviously a highlight of both girls’ weeks. It was a tribute to Marinette's big heart that Kagami seemed to mean it when she called Marinette her very best friend.

Despite that, It was still a struggle for Marinette to unpaper her walls of the mass of posers photos and magazine clippings depicting the young Adonis and her “hope chest” had only stopped growing--it had not yet been emptied. 

Sabine placed the plate of treats and tea cups on a tray, along with a napkin, and made her way carefully up the ladder to her daughter’s attic room. 

Even if her first two attempts at romance had not been very successful, Marinette still had plenty of time. And if what she said were to be believed there was a brother of one of her friends-- Juleka, if Sabine remembered right--that was both willing and, perhaps, able to help Marinette patch up her broken heart. Luka was the boy’s name, Sabine thought, and if it was indeed the same one who had done occasional deliveries for the bakery he was polite and diligent. Eminently suitable.

Sabine knocked on the trap door and waited for Marinette’s acknowledgement before entering. She found her daughter fliting around the room, dispersing the detritus of her travels.

“Honey,” Sabine called as she entered. “I brought you some tea and a snack.”

“Thanks, Maman!” Marinette said excitedly. Marinette bustled over to grab the tray and set it at the end of her chaise. She grabbed a split croissant stuffed with ham and cheese, then carefully flopped against the back, placing her feet gingerly beside the tray. “I haven't had anything decent since the New York airport,” she mumbled around her first two bites.

“Did you have a good trip?” Sabine asked with concern as she watched her daughter visibly wilt into the chase. Exhaustion finally catching up with her now that she had stopped moving.

“Wonderful, Maman. We learned so many things and met lots of people,” Marinette said, around bites of her sandwich and sips of tea. Her eyes kept drifting towards closed until she would pry them open.

“Would the, um… emphatic declaration you made have anything to do with the trip?” Sabine asked as she took her own tea and perched at the far corner of the chaise. 

“Mmmhmm,” Marinette responded, nodding sleepily. Her eyes were now completely closed and the half-eaten sandwich lay next to her open hand. “I learned I need to tell Adrien that I love him. Even if he likes Kagami. If I don't, I'll never be able to be his friend.”

“I see.” Sabine’s eyes widened. “Are you sure, dear. I thought you had decided to let him go. For your friend’s sake.

“I did.” Marinette’s voice was breathy now, almost a light snore more than words. “But my heart keeps hoping. So, I think, unless I say it and hear him say he doesn't feel the same I'll be stuck on him... forever. I might start to _hate_ Kagami.” Marinette roused briefly as she emphasized this particular point, then slumped drowsily back into her seat. “That wouldn't be fair to her, or Adrien. He wouldn't be able to make a-” a yawn interrupted Marinette's pronouncement. “A fair choice.” 

“Well, as long as you _are_ sure.” 

The only answer was the smooth, even breaths of sleep. 

Sabine gathered the fallen sandwich and mug and placed the tray on Marinette's desk. Sabine then covered the remaining food with the napkin, to save it for when Marinette woke up, and took her own mug and went back down to the kitchen. 

As she sat and finished her tea, Sabine smiled gently and shook her head at her daughter’s determination to do the right thing. 

Even if it broke her heart. 

**Author's Note:**

> My great gratitude to my betas [MiniNoire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniNoire/pseuds/MiniNoire) and [sagansjagger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagansjagger) and all the rest of the _Fabulous_ people at the [ Miraculous Fanworks Discord](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks), who have encouraged me and kept me going. If you write or draw for this fandom, or just want to, come play with us.


End file.
